Eight Austin Chefs Are Competing In the American Lamb Jam

Finally – good riddance, pandemic! – the fine folks of the American Lamb Board bring back their popular American Lamb Jam, this time with a twist – and Austin is a fierce part of the action.

Lamb Jam Restaurant Month is a dining experience that invites 47 talented chefs in six cities to celebrate family-operated farms and ranches raising sheep in the United States. So, chefs in Austin, Boston, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. will create a “Lamb Jam Special” in the form of an appetizer, small plate, or shareable menu item – but only one chef in each market will be crowned Lamb Jam Master.

In order to win this title, chefs will be evaluated by a panel of three secret dining judges in each city. The judges will visit all eight restaurants in each city and judge each dish in three categories: presentation, taste, and creativity. The chef whose dish scores the highest out of all other chefs in the country will be named Lamb Jam Master – and get a trip to Napa, California, where they’ll cook and enjoy a lamb lunch at the Culinary Institute of America and visit a nearby regenerative agriculture sheep ranch.

BONUS: Diners – that’s you, right? – in each of the eight cities will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite lamb dish, and the chef with the highest number of votes will win the People’s Choice Award, which includes a $1,000 donation to whatever charity they choose.

[Note: All diners who vote for their favorite dish will receive an exclusive Lamb Jam t-shirt and be entered to win a $250 gift card to the participating restaurant of their choice.]

This event runs May 1-31, and, oh! These are the talented local champions who are vying for the title of Lamb Jam Master:

Iliana de la Vega (El Naranjo)
John Bates (Interstellar BBQ)
Kevin Taylor (Bulevar)
Kareem El-Ghayesh (KG BBQ)
Tom Micklethwait (Micklethwait Craft Meats)
Joey Atwater (Lenoir)
Dan Kennedy (Vixen’s Wedding)
Mike Geelhoed (Hopfields)